In second grade social studies, students explore the concepts of their own and other communities in the United States.
By the end of the school year, all students should be able to:
■ Understand key ideas about their community and local region, such as how New York City is governed, that it has five boroughs, and that it is an important center of trade for the United States and the world.
■ Understand how different communities help meet people’s needs and wants. For example, a rural community grows food and an urban community is a place where people buy and sell goods.
■ Explain how communities are influenced by geography.
■ Talk about how citizens develop rules and laws to protect the community and its members.
■ Develop an understanding of the people, traditions, practices, and ideas that make up different communities.
■ Tell about and describe key places in their own community and in New York City.
■ Understand and explain how and why New York City has changed over time.
■ Use symbols to create maps that show features of their own and other New York City communities.
■ Explore how communities use taxes to pay for services they provide, such as schools, parks, trash collection, and police and fire protection.
■ Understand how symbols of citizenship, such as flags or city and state seals, communicate the values and traditions of the community.
Learning at Home
Find time for your family to talk about things that are important to your family and your community.
Walk through your neighborhood and ask your child to point out different things your city provides to make life better for people who live there. For example, schools, street signs, trash collection, police and fire protection, and other services.
Visit the New York City Police Museum, www.nycpolicemuseum.org, or the New York City Fire Museum, www.nycfiremuseum.org, to learn how these two important professions serve the New York City community.
Help your child make a personal online flag that represents your family’s heritage and values. Go to www.wearemulticolored.org, a project of New York’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum.